Interchangeable Structural Module (Structural Building Panel)

ABSTRACT

An interchangeable structure module to provide a structural building panel may include a structural panel having a front surface being opposed to a back surface and having side surfaces to connect the front surface and the back surface and having a top surface and a bottom surface to connect the front surface and the back surface; and a structural stud to engage the structural panel. The structural stud is U-shaped.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an interchangeable structural moduleand more particularly to a structural building panel.

BACKGROUND

The interior of a structure may be subdivided into a number of smallerrooms or areas for example where an office may be formed in a commercialsetting or a room for a residential house may be formed in a residentialsetting. In addition, exterior walls, roofs and floors need to beprovided. If these rooms or areas have to be individually studded andcovered with plasterboard, a large number of man-hours may be requiredin order to complete this task.

It would be desirable to have a module that could be easily assembledand easily joined to other modules in order to quickly and inexpensivelyprovide a building that is suitable to be occupied and can meet localsafety standards.

SUMMARY

An interchangeable structure module to provide a structural buildingpanel may include a structural panel having a front surface beingopposed to a back surface and having side surfaces to connect the frontsurface and the back surface and having a top surface and a bottomsurface to connect the front surface and the back surface; and astructural stud to engage the structural panel; wherein the structuralstud is U-shaped.

The structural panel may include a back surface channel.

The back surface channel may include an adhesive

The side surface may include a side surface channel.

The back surface may include a structural stud.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a pair of interchangeablestructure module of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the structural stud of theinterchangeable structure module of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an end view of the structural stud of theinterchangeable structure module of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the structural stud of theinterchangeable structure module of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates another side view of the structural stud of theinterchangeable structure module of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exploded view of the interchangeable structuralmodule of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuremodule of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an interchangeable structural module 100 which mayinclude a structural stud 112 and a structural panel 114 which maycooperate with the structural stud 112. The structural stud 112 is shownin the perspective in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 illustrates an end view of thelongitudinal structural stud 112 which may be substantially an U-shapedhaving a pair of upstanding sidewalls 116 and a bottom wall 118 and FIG.8 illustrates a side view of the structural stud 112. FIG. 7 illustratesa top view of the longitudinal structural stud 112 showing theupstanding sidewalls 116 and the bottom wall 118 and the structural stud112 may be formed from rigid material such as plastic, metal and steel.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the structural stud 112 and thestructural panel 114. The structural panel 114 may include a frontsurface 104 being opposed to a back surface 102, and the structuralpanel 114 having the front surface 104 and the back surface 102 may beconnected to a pair of opposed side surfaces 110 which may be connectedto the top surface 106 and connected to the bottom surface 108.

The back surface 102 may include a back surface channel 120 which mayextend the entire longitudinal length of the back surface 102. The backsurface channel 120 may connect to a second (or more) interchangeablestructural module 100 see FIG. 2 by abutting the first and secondinterchangeable structural module together. Inserting adhesive 121 forexample epoxy (and or expandable spay foam sealant or other similar typeof sealant) into the back surface channel 120. The adhesive 121 willspread between the back surface 102 of the first and secondinterchangeable: structural module. As the adhesive hardens 121, thefirst and second interchangeable structural module will be connectedtogether.

FIG. 3 illustrates the interchangeable structural module 100 which showsthe structural stud 112 connected to the structural panel 114. Theinterchangeable structural module which includes the structural panel114 which includes a side surface channel 122 which may extendhorizontally (or vertically or at an angle with respect to thehorizontal) formed within the side surface 110. The side surface channel122 may be used as a channel for placement of cable such as electricalwires and the structural stud 112 includes an opening 126 which ispositioned to cooperate with the side surface channel 122 to allow theelectrical wires within the side surface channel 122 to connect to theexterior world.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuralmodule 100 and illustrates the side surface channel 122 and the backsurface channel 120.

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the interchangeable structuralmodule 100 and illustrates the side surface channel 122 and the backsurface channel 120.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the structural stud 112 andillustrates the sidewalls 116 and the bottom wall 118.

FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the structural stud 112 andillustrates the sidewalls 116, the bottom wall 118 and a opposed,discontinuous top wall 117 which is connected to the sidewalls 116.

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the interchangeable structural module100 and FIG. 9 illustrates another side view of the interchangeablestructural module 100 which includes the structural stud 112.

FIG. 10 illustrates the interchangeable structure module 100 and shows apair of opposed structural studs 112 positioned on the structural panel114 and the side surface channel 122.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate a multitude of structural panels 114 whereeach of the structural panels 114 is connected to an adjacent structuralpanel 114 by a structural stud 112. All of the structural panels 114 areconnected to each other by a top connecting arm 130 and a bottomconnecting arm 132 both of which may have a substantial U-shaped inorder to engage the structural panels 114 and the structural studs 112.

The back surface channel 120 on the back surface 102 is a chemicalwelding access grove. The back surface channel 120 is used when themodule 100 is used in building; a first structural building panel 114 ispositioned with the back surface 120 of a first module 100 beingpositioned to the front of another second module 100. When thestructural panel 114 is installed on site, a spray foam sealant isapplied from an insert of the spray foam applicator (Gun) between theback of the first module 100 and the front of a second module 100, andthe spray foam sealant placed into the grove 120 allows the foam sealantto expand until the whole opening (grove) is filled, and in effectwelding the first and second modules 100 together.

The interchangeable structural module 114 may be installed on site andis connected to another module. In general the modules are assembledtogether in the factory or a similar type setting and secured togetherwith a top and bottom track attachment which is generally a “U” shapedtrack, and affixed to the structural studs with self drilling screwsthat affix the tracks to the structural studs. Alternately, the modulescan be shipped to the site un-assembled, erected on site into the bottomtrack, have the top track attached and the spray foam sealant isinserted between the modules to produce a structural wall. When used asa module in a roof or floor system the modules are sent to the siteindividually then erected on site to produce the floors and roofs asneeded.

The front surface 104 of the interchangeable structure module 100 has astructural stud 112 which may be formed from steel attached, bonded andchemically welded to the structural panel 114 which may be a foam insert

The structural stud 112 can be modified to any usable size and strengthas needed.

For instance, if the interchangeable structural module 100 is used inmanufacturing an interior wall, the stud 112 may be 26, 20 or 18 gaugeas needed. The width of the stud 112 is variable from 2½″ up to a 6″stud or larger for load bearing walls. The foam insert with thestructural panel 114 corresponds with the width of the structural stud112 as needed.

If the interchangeable structural module 100 is used for an exteriorwall panel, the structural stud 112 may be used to ensure structuralintegrity as needed. The structural stud 112 can be 20 or 18 gauge ingeneral; 16, 14 and 12 gauge can also be used as needed. The width ofthe structural stud 112 can be generally from 4″ up to 12″ or larger asneeded.

If the interchangeable structural module 100 is used as a roof panel,the structural stud 112 (joist in this configuration) can be between 6″to 14″ or larger inches or any size in between. The gauge for thisconfiguration can also be between 20 and or larger to 16 gauge asneeded. The thickness of the foam insert matches the width of thestructural stud (joist) 112. The length and depth of the interchangeablestructural module 100 is determined by a structural engineer. In otherwords, the interchangeable structural module 100 could be anywhere froma 12″ deep module 100 that is say 12 feet long to a module 100 that isup to 24″ deep and thirty feet long or longer. Depending on the loadstructural capabilities, the structural stud 112 (joist) can bevirtually any width, length and gauge as needed.

If the interchangeable structural module 100 is being used as a floorjoist, the same criteria as the roof modules 100 can be used.

The horizontal grove (side surface channel 122) is an electrical accesschannel that is cut into the foam insert. This grove can be used forinstalling electrical wiring, such as category 5 wiring, telephonicwiring and optic wiring as needed. The height and depth of the groove isdetermined as needed but is generally a 2″×2″ channel

The structural steel stud 112 also has an opening 126 that aligns withthe electrical groove (side surface channel 122). The opening has anelectrical insulated adapter (not shown) inserted into the opening onthe stud to allow for the electrical wiring, cable etc. to be used.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1) An interchangeable structure module to provide a structural buildingpanel, comprising: a structural panel having a front surface beingopposed to a back surface and having side surfaces to connect the frontsurface and the back surface and having a top surface and a bottomsurface to connect the front surface and the back surface; and astructural stud to engage the structural panel; wherein the structuralstud is U-shaped; wherein the top surface and the bottom surface doesnot include a surface channel and wherein the first side surface of theside surfaces directly connected to the structural stud does not includethe surface channel. 2) An interchangeable structure module to provide astructural building panel as in claim 1, wherein the structural panelincludes a back surface channel. 3) An interchangeable structure moduleto provide a structural building panel as in claim 2, wherein the backsurface channel includes an adhesive. 4) An interchangeable structuremodule to provide a structural building panel as in claim 1, wherein thesecond side surface of the side surfaces includes a side surfacechannel.